Politics and International Relations

Moral Maze: Morality of international trade

7 February 2017

On Wednesday 1st February Dr Philip Cunliffe, Senior Lecturer in International Conflict appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Moral Maze.

The Moral Maze seeks to encourage combative, provocative and engaging live debate examining the moral issues behind one of the week’s news storie and last week’s episode saw Dr Cunliffe exploring the morality of international trade and questioning what price should we, as a nation, be willing to pay to make it clear to a foreign nation that their policies are unacceptable?

The debate was certainly provactive, with panelists including Melanie Phillips, Michael Portillo and the Reverend Giles Fraser, the lively debate saw the panel touching on US politics, Brexit and the impact that publically humiliating Trump could have on the UK’s ability to negotiate a favourable with the US.

The lingering question posed: If you draw the line at Donald Trump, how do you feel about the UK signing a £100m arms deal with Turkey – a country that, according to some human rights groups, jails more journalists than any other?

You can listen to the Moral Maze here, with Dr Cunliffe’s contribution 26 minutes in.